Mom’s Best Recipes- book

I actually made two of these little books (for sale at the Bazaar on 21st), one for mom and one for grandma.  My favorite part is now that my kids are past the board book stage, I can alter them into cute art projects.
What inspired this project was thinking about the mothers that are sending their kids off to college for the first time, maybe one graduating from college and headed off into the world.  Or maybe someone has an aging mother and wants to get her recipes down before they’re gone.  Sentimental, I know…

Close up of the paper flower my friend Melissa Laverty taught us how to make using 5 punched flowers and a spray bottle.

And here are the inside pages that will hold 10 of your favorite go-to recipes. 

The left-hand side is actually the dedication page where you would put a photo of your mother/grandmother with information about her.




THANKS FOR LOOKING!~

TAPS Ghost-Hunting Investigative Journal

This one is going to take some explaining…

Ever since we moved here in 2005, we’ve had lots of “unexplained activity.” I’m loathe to use the “H” word for fear of freaking out my kids, but even my husband has come around to the fact that we’re not alone. We’ve experienced the gamut from playful to truly freaky, and they/it (?) have made it very clear visitors are not welcome. It usually just manifests by blowing several light bulbs as soon as our guests leave, so we’ve adjusted by keeping a ready supply.

Imagine the temper tantrum “they/it” threw when I volunteered to host Thanksgiving. That week we lost my laptop (a friend wiped it clean and reinstalled everything), my Nikon D40 digital camera lens (got a new one for Christmas), our Direct TV (only for a couple hours), and our heavy stained glass kitchen light fixture came crashing down on my daughter hurting her pretty badly. Just recently, dangling Christmas lights shocked the hell out of my visiting brother only to find they were unplugged.

Long story, long…my rockin’ 6 year-old nephew is obsessed with the TV show TAPS- The Atlantic Paranormal Society. This kid knows his stuff, and has offered some pretty good advice. All he asked for for Christmas was the EVP app downloaded to my sister’s phone and a visit to my house to put it to good use, making him (I’m pretty sure) the youngest paranormal investigator out there.

They’re visiting this weekend, so I made him this little journal to log all his evidence. Normally I would include a matching pen, but I didn’t think it stood a chance of leaving this house. I have mixed feelings about hoping he finds what he’s looking for…


I don’t think he’ll need the glossary, so it’s there for his parents.  ; )

2011 New Year Goals Display

I’m really excited about this one.  Setting a goal and putting a plan into place to reach it are truly part of my Capricornian nature.  (Although I tend to be a little Pisces about seeing it to fruition sometimes…no offense to you Pisces…)
Here is a display I created to feature our family’s individual goals for 2011.  Keeping it right in the kitchen will hopefully be a daily reminder to tighten up!


You can’t exactly read our goals, so if you’re interested…
RICH- 
     * Lose 15 lbs. by Hawaii (June)
     *  Be more positive about myself
CORI-
     *  Pay off credit card
     *  average 2 scrapbook pages a week
     *  Do a pull-up
Savannah (5)-
     *  Learn to tie her shoes
     *  Ride a two-wheeler
Madeline (3)-
     *  (unintelligible scribbling)
     *  Consistent letter practice and write her name
Lexi (7)-
     *  Read 2nd Guardians of Ga’Hoole book by myself
     *  Earn 3 ribbons in Fine Arts Fair

And here are some more detailed pics of the display. 

I used CTMH’s “Aspen” paper for a nice wintry look and liquid glass to make the letters pop.  My Cricut came in pretty handy for the letters and snowflakes- Storybook, Plantin Schoolbook, and Christmas Cheer.

And of course, my trusty never-ending supply of stickles gave a nice icicle glitter to the flakes.
I have to take a moment to brag on my husband (and myself) for reaching a major LIFETIME goal just this past Christmas.
When we got married, we were a whopping 600 lbs. combined.  I looked more like a rotund snowwoman than the ice princess look I was going for at our Christmas wedding.  We could barely get our arms around each other, much less have Richard carry me bride-style over the threshhold.  It’s always been a little romantic wish of mine for my husband to be able to whisk me up.  (Some call it the Fireman’s carry- I call it bride-style.)
2010 was dedicated to our health and to date, I’ve dropped 110 lbs. (size 22 to size 12), and my husband is down 75 lbs.  Just before Christmas he made me get up on a kitchen chair and go for it!  It wasn’t “whisking me up,” but he did it, even took several steps, and said, “that wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”  Hooray!  And Merry Christmas to me (us)!
Thanks for looking!

Owl & Nature Bedroom

     Our major project this summer was switching around bedrooms.  The 2 1/2 year-old’s nursery became my 7 year-old’s OWN big girl room, something she had been “requesting” for some time.  Little bug was just too happy to move into “the princess” room, and my 5 year-old got to move up to the TOP bunk.  Something for everyone!
     After I put the brakes on a very teenage looking peace sign room, Lexi decided she liked the Owl and Nature line from Target.  (Thank God- Target is definitely doable.)  Here’s what we came up with.

My favorite piece in the room is the hedgehog bean bag, although the only occupants are usually stuffies.

     The walls are left over from Little Bug’s Pottery Barn “Under the Sea” nursery.  Since it didn’t completely clash, we just left them.  We’ll be moving in a year or two anyway.

     We had fun decorating this corkboard, edging the whole thing in funky ribbons…

…and making fun magnets with cardstock stickers.

     The Life’s Delights paper pack from CTMH leant itself well to the colors and tone of the room with name frames…

…as well as a yucky brown clock I got at a yardsale we took apart and completely redid.  It’s a work in progress, but she is happy so far with her own “grown-up” space.

My Creative Space

I guess I’m just following Virginia Woolf’s advice and claiming a room of my own.  The focus is scrapbooking, but really it’s more of an art studio/inspirational zen space/Johnny Depp shrine.  I wish I could spend more time here, but it’s tucked away at the back of the basement far from the cries of the lil’ ones (which actually makes it that much more desirable.)  To make it practical, I’ve dragged tables out to the common area  where my kids play.   God forbid I should block the Play Station 3!  (From the DH, not the kids!)  Thanks for looking…



(And I guess I should take new pics, because these are 6 months old, and I forgot I rearranged everything since then…heh.)

Just your every day face paint

The Rovang household has to start getting out the Halloween decor in Sept. to be completely ready for our favorite holiday.  So when you stumble across some face paint, you have to partake.  It’s good practice- you never know when your entertaining skills will come in handy.  (Just don’t ask me to do Dora!)


In honor of Buffett, and yes, she’s a fan.  She actually knows all the words to “Cheeseburger in Paradise.”  That’s my girl!

Woodgrove Wolverines corkboard

It seems the girls and I are always crafting, but we rarely make things for Rich.  Granted, he’s a guy, and would rather admire our work from afar.  He’s so excited about being a charter faculty member of the new Woodgrove High School that I wanted to show some support by making him this corkboard for his classroom. 

If it were mine, it would also have ribbon, buttons, tiles, or gems around the border. But again, his favorite flavor is “plain,” and I have to respect that.  (He also politely refused my offer of curtains for his windows which KILLS me.) 
The first football game is this Friday night!  Go, Wolverines!!  : )

Girly kaleidoscope

Man! I am on a blogging ROLL!~ This is what...3 in a row for me? Anyhoo, my BFF Kim and I learned how to make these wicked awesome kaleidscopes at a weekend crop we went to, and we were hooked. She a little more than I, I will admit. She actually turned her obsession into a business. Check out her website if you'd like to have one made for you.

This is the first one I made when I got home and actually had the chance to print reverses of pictures. (Note: get them done at Costco or online like Snapfish. Walmart doesn't play nice anymore and charges more for a reverse.) I apologize for the background clutter in the pic, but it just wouldn't have that kaleidoscopey feel if I just layed it flat like a regular page.

It's amazing how many different kaleidoscopes you can create with the same pictures, just by angling it a bit different. This project definitely massages the left side of the brain, and makes you appreciate your 9th grade geometry teacher a little more. You wouldn't believe how easy they really are...

Believe Album

I have a huge collection of stuff waiting to be altered, and I never actually do it. I'm a sucker for those clear buckets (what the hell do you ever do with something like that?), jumbo wooden clothespins, clipboards, empty formula cylinders, etc. I'm thinking family totem pole, dunno. Here is one of my many Bo Bunny chipboard albums with my favorite line of paper, Basic Grey. If you're like me, though, you have a hard time letting go of the paper. It's almost like I enjoy hoarding it more than actually using. Yes, it's a sickness, but now that our 2 scrapbook stores went out of business, it's a little more critical to make every centimeter count. Thank God for A.C. More (they kick Michael's butt-oot)!